European study on Audience Development launched

“Study on audience development – How to place audiences at the centre of cultural organisations” is a study by Fondazione Fitzcarraldo, together with Culture Action Europe, ECCOM and Intercult, as a consortium, developed in the framework of the Creative Europe programme. The study on audience development with examples from Europe of successful approaches is published and available online.

The aim of the study is to provide successful approaches and methods in the area of audience development to be disseminated among European cultural organisations. They will also be used as a basis for selection criteria in future calls for proposals launched by the Creative Europe programme.

The study also aims to equip cultural leaders with the means to make a convincing case for becoming more audience-centric internally, (towards boards of directors, communication and artistic departments, advisory committees and other decision structures) or externally (public authorities, patrons, friends schemes, sponsors, etc).

Many culture makers have embraced the theme of Audience Development (AD); we all want audiences, preferably large and enthusiastic ones. But how can we demonstrate to our investors that we have taken the task seriously? How do we measure our efforts? Here, the key terms are: cultural impact; immaterial indicators; shared knowledge; shared practice; people to people; citizen/visitor. What are the needs and the possible impact? What can public authorities, patrons, friends, sponsors and policymakers gain from a mapping of the Audience Engagement (AE) territory? Here, the key terms are: creating conditions; making demands; challenging tradition. The study, carefully framed by the European Commission, can help guide in policy development, to create conditions for true AD. It aims at:

– providing innovative approaches and methods in the area of AD to the European Commission;

– providing a basis for selection criteria in future calls for proposals framed by the Creative Europe Programme;

– equipping cultural leaders with developed means for making a convincing case, within an organisation, for a transition to an audience-centric approach;

– investigating common elements across the diverse European landscape, clear differences and potential peer-learning opportunities.

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